Mucor - Mucor

Japanese: ケカビ - けかび

A representative mold of the Mucoraceae family of zygomycetes. Long sporangium stalks grow from the hyphae to about 2-3 cm, and bear spherical sporangium of gray to black to brown at the end. Countless spores are contained within the sporangium. The mold was named Mucor because it looks fuzzy all over. There are dioecious and homoeous strains, and it reproduces sexually, producing black, confetti-like zygospores. It is commonly found in starchy foods such as cooked rice, rice cakes, and bread, but it also frequently occurs in animal feces. It is saprophytic, and those with strong starch saccharification power are used in the alcohol manufacturing industry, and in Asia in particular, it is one of the brewing microorganisms, such as in the production of sorghum for sorghum wine.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

接合菌類ケカビ科の代表的なカビ。菌糸から長胞子囊柄が2～3cmぐらいまで伸び上がり，先に灰色～黒色～褐色の球状の胞子囊をつける。胞子囊中に無数の胞子がある。全体がけばだって見えるので，ケカビと名づけられた。雌雄異株と同株があり，有性生殖をして黒色で金平糖状の接合胞子をつくる。米飯，餅，パンなどデンプン質の食品に普通にみられるが，動物の糞にもよく発生する。腐生的であり，デンプン糖化力が強いものはアルコール製造工業に利用され，とくにアジア地域ではコーリャン酒の麯子（きよくし）製造など醸造微生物の一つとなっている。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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